This invention generally relates to clocks having multiple features including unique lighting and time display features. More particularly, a preferred embodiment of the invention relates to illumination of the dial of the clock, which may be associated with a night light feature that may be activated and deactivated automatically in response to ambient lighting conditions, or that may be activated and deactivated manually by a user-operated switch.
Various types of alarm clocks are known to the prior art, including analog alarm clocks with hands to indicate the current time and digital clocks with digits to display the current time. Some analog alarm clocks also include certain illumination features to assist in reading the time under the low level lighting conditions usually encountered during the evening hours. However, such analog alarm clocks with illumination do not provide sufficient illumination to also provide night lighting for the room in which the clock is located.
Particularly in a battery-powered alarm clock, the illumination of the clock needs to be efficient since the amount of the current drain on the batteries is inversely related to the life of the batteries.
There is therefore a need for an analog alarm clock with an illumination system that efficiently converts light from a light source into illumination for the dial of the alarm clock for easy viewing of the displayed time, and that also provides dispersed lighting into a room to serve as a night light.
Also needed is an analog alarm clock that automatically activates the illumination features when the ambient lighting falls below a predetermined threshold and that automatically deactivates the illumination features when the ambient lighting rises above a predetermined threshold.
An analog alarm clock with illumination features that may be varied by the user to his/her preferences is also desirable.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an improved alarm clock with an illumination module to efficiently provide illumination of the face of the clock and to provide sufficient light dispersion out of the illumination module for night lighting of the room in which the clock is located.
A further object of the present invention is to automatically activate the illumination features when the ambient lighting falls below a predetermined threshold, and to automatically deactivate the illumination when the ambient lighting rises above a predetermined threshold.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide the capability for the user to manually control the illumination features of the alarm clock to his/her desired illumination characteristics.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved alarm clock with an LED light source that is positioned in an edge of the illumination module.